We didn’t expect to find enlightenment in stainless steel.
Yet there we were — forty years after graduation, a group of Tongji alumni ascended the Shanghai Tower, the tallest symbol of a city that once lived only in our student sketches.
Below us, Shanghai shimmered like a motherboard of memory — every bridge, every bend, every dream we once drew now glinting in glass and light, as the clouds above briefly parted and unveiled the city beneath.
Near the summit, in a red-lit corridor, we encountered From the Clouds (坐观云起 ) — a polished stainless-steel warrior, rope-bound, gleaming beneath walls of crimson glow.
The placard read:
“A warrior holding bamboo, watching clouds rise — symbolizing calm and integrity amid time’s flow.”
But standing before it, calm wasn’t the first sensation.
It was power — restrained yet radiant. Heat beneath stillness. Strength within serenity.
Steel — reflective, modern, unyielding.
Red — passion balanced by restraint.
Bamboo — humility intertwined with resilience.
Together, they whispered a truth: calm is not the absence of tension, but the mastery of it.
In that instant, I realized — this sculpture wasn’t just art.
It was a mirror of the encore years: strength held softly, purpose refined through stillness.
Counting Our Clouds — The Rule of 72
In finance, the Rule of 72 tells us how long it takes to double an investment.
Divide 72 by your annual rate of return:
At 9 percent, you double in eight years.
At 6 percent, in twelve.
At sixty, with a bit of luck, I might have three doubles left — three cycles of reinvention, symbolized by those three illuminated columns glowing bright red along the Tower’s corridor.
They stood like quiet beacons in the dimness — reminders that time, when seen through light, is not a countdown but a rhythm.
Each glow marked not loss, but renewal.
Even in stillness, life compounds — in meaning, gratitude, and resonance.
Each encore in life isn’t repetition; it’s redesign.
The Power Law of Meaning
Not everything doubles.
Some experiences move linearly — necessary, useful, but not transformative. Yet a few rare ones — the ten-percent moments — yield ninety percent of life’s meaning.
That red corridor in the Tower was one.
Our reunion laughter, another.
Perhaps the next will be a quiet cup of coffee shared with a young man.
The secret? To recognize and reinvest in your ten percent — the people, moments, and rituals that truly compound joy.
From Bearing Capacity to Buoyancy
In our twenties, we calculated bearing capacity — how much weight a beam could hold. Now, we measure buoyancy — what helps us stay afloat.
Our steel has turned inward. The corrosion we face is not saltwater, but inertia. The fatigue is not structural, but spiritual.
And yet, what endures must bend.
What floats must have depth.
Even stainless steel learns to reflect its surroundings.
Perhaps that is what wisdom looks like — polished, yet still learning to yield.
Forty Years, Still Rising
Our Shanghai reunion wasn’t merely a nostalgic return. It was a living experiment in buoyancy — in how we rise together, even after forty years.
Over three unforgettable days, 16 classmates gathered in Shanghai, while 9 joined virtually, 25 in total, bridging time zones and decades.
From the dinner at Green Wave Pavilion Restaurant at Yuyuan Garden with our beloved teacher, to a sunlit walk through Wényuǎn Building and the College of Civil Engineering, and finally to an evening at Maxx by Steigenberger on the Bund Shanghai filled with stories and song, we rediscovered something enduring: the elasticity of friendship.
There were heartfelt speeches, warm embraces, and even an elegant modern ballroom dance performance (thank you, Yeming Hu) that brought back the rhythm of youth.
Screens flickered with smiling faces; online voices joined the applause. Across continents, we moved in one rhythm.
That evening, I understood something simple yet profound: Meaning doesn’t fade. It compounds through connection.
As our class monitor, Benjamin, reminded us:
“In life’s second half, what we compete for is health. The rest is bonus. Enjoy it — don’t waste it.”
We’ve traded drafting pencils for dancing shoes, deadlines for dreamlines. This was more than a reunion of engineers — it was a reassembly of souls, still designing the structure of life itself.
The Encore Equation
If there were a formula for this season of life, it might read:
Encore Value = (Power Law × Compound Meaning) ÷ Time Left
It’s not about doing more.
It’s about compounding what still matters — the relationships, passions, and small rituals that keep us vividly alive.
We no longer need to build higher towers.
We just need to keep our hearts clear enough to reflect the clouds.
Designing Our Remaining Doubles
Let’s try a little life architecture together:
1️⃣ How many doubles do you still have left?
Be honest — your time horizon defines your design.
2️⃣ What still deserves to double?
Name your ten percent — those few things that still compound joy.
3️⃣ How will you reinforce what already holds you?
Your foundation is health, humor, and connection.
Design your encore as you once designed your first bridge — with precision, curiosity, and just enough boldness to defy gravity.
Closing Sip
Standing before From the Clouds, I caught my reflection — warped, luminous, quietly alive. That’s what our sixties feel like: compressed energy, softly radiant.
The Golden Encore isn’t a curtain call.
It’s an awakening — strength without strain, light without noise.
So as we raise our glasses at this reunion,
let’s toast not to the years behind,
but to the doubles still ahead —
to the next act of grace,
the next ascent into the clouds,
and the calm heart that watches them rise.
Your Turn
Where are you finding your encore strength — in motion, or in stillness? What ten percent of your life still doubles your joy?
Coming Next in The Golden Encore Series
If From the Clouds was about strength through stillness, the next reflection explores its twin — the architecture of release.
What happens when we stop adding and start subtracting?
When the encore isn’t built higher, but lighter?
Join me next time from the edge of the Huangpu River, where I’ll trade blueprints for blank space — and explore how letting go becomes its own act of design.
📍 From Shanghai, with reflection
Kefei Wang
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